Introduction:

respiratory diseases due to environmental pollution have increased in recent years in Riobamba, where more than half developed in the urban sector.

Objective:

to determine the relation between environmental pollution and respiratory conditions.

Methods:

a case-control study was conducted; through non-probability sampling, 2 population groups from two sectors of Riobamba, Ecuador, were established by means of a questionnaire. Group A (cases), exposed to high vehicle traffic and group B (control ), exposed to lower vehicle traffic. Each group had 110 people. The research was conducted between December 2018 and January 2019. χ2 was used in SPSS version 24, with a significance level of 5%.

Results:

women represented 60.91%, distributed in group A (58.18%) and in group B (63.64%); men represented 32.73% and 36.36%, respectively, without significant association with the study groups (χ2 = 0.03; p = 0.95). Only 10 children and adolescents were studied, representing 4.55% of the 220 people. There was not association between gender and respiratory desease. The women affected with respiratory processes were 55.22% and the men were 48.68% (χ2 = 0.83; p = 0.36). Group A had 68.18% who showed respiratory conditions, while group B presented 40%. A significant association was found between respiratory conditions and the residence groups, and between respiratory conditions and exposure time.

Conclusions:

an association between vehicle contamination and the risk of suffering from respiratory conditions was found.

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